Cell door locking and operating device



Sept. 6, 1938. D.' FRIES. SR..' ET AL CELL noon LOCKING AND OPERATING DEVICE Filed 001:. 23, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. .aWVIEL R155, 642. ".Qm0a fkxzs,

QWQ MQW ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 6, 1938. b. FRIES. sR.. ET AL 2,129,171

I CELL DOOR LOCKING AND QPERATING DEVICE Filed Oct. 23, 1936 7 sheets-sheet 2 IN VEN TORS.

4 DAN/4 Jae/5s, -52.

(Zn/v15; Gik/A-s, die.

A TTORNEYS.

Se t. 6, 1938. D. FRIES. am ET AL CELL DOOR LOCKING AND OPERATING DEVICE Fil'ed Oct. 23, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 N A n mv wv nw ATTORNEYS.

& R E W? M] 6 2 Z w Sept. 6,1938.

D. FRIES. SRQ'ET m. 2,129,171 CELL DOOR LOCKING AND OPERATING DELICE Filed Oct. 23, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Q QQPM A TTORNEYS Sept. 6, 1938. D. FRIES. sR.. ET AL 2,129,171

CELL DOOR LOCKING AND OPERATING DEVICE Filed Oct. 25, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 V I V 124-1;

l 26 C /7) /7\ c 26c 0 L o I 6 O 5 i I l I l w 1 x H I, o o

Wl o a IN VEN TOR-S. DAN/1. Fem-s, 2. flA/WEL GFe/es. Je.

BY magma A TTORNEYS.

p 1938- D. FRIES. sR.. ET AL 2,129,171

CELL DOOR LOCKING AND OPERATING DEVICE Filed Oct. 2a, 1956 7 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTORS. JAN/1. FIE/6, 5/2. flaw/4 Fem-s, J 2.

A TTORNEYS.

Sept. 6, 1938. D. FRIES. SR, ET AL -CELL DOOR LOCKING AND OPERATING DEVICE 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Oct. 23, 1936 INVENTOR-S. m DAN/EL IVE/6,619. Jfl/V/EL GJk/Es, Je.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 6, 1938 UNITED STATES ATE @FFiQE CELL DOOR LOCKING AND OPERATING DEVICE Application October 23, 1936, Serial No. 107,266

4 Claims.

' cells giving access to a corridor, and there is usually provided a waiting room or the like which is separated from the corridor by an escapeprooi door. In the past it has generally been the practice to provide these doors with individual locks,

the keys to which were carried by a ward-en or other person in authority. To unlock any of the doors the individual in whose charge the keys were placed, had to enter the cell block, and was subjected to the danger of attack by one or more of the prisoners.

It is an object of our invention to provide a mechanism whereby all the doors in the cell block may be controlled and operated from a station removed from the cell block. It is another object of our invention to provide means whereby any of the doors in the cell block may be opened or closed individually or any number of the doors may be opened or closed simultaneously.

It is also an object of our invention to provide a mechanism as above outlined whereby not only doors which are aligned in one plane, but also doors which are disposed transversely to said plane may be actuated.

Another object of our invention is to provide means whereby when the cell doors are opened they are locked in open position, so that one of the prisoners could not push the door to a locked position, and thus possibly confine one of the prison officials.

Other objects of our invention include the provision of means whereby'the operating mechanisms are tamper-proof and cannot be injured or destroyed by the prisoner.

These and other objects of our invention which will be pointed out hereinafter or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, we accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which we shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. It is to be understood that we do not intend to be limited otherwise than as pointed out in the claims to follow, and that modifications may be made within the scope of our invention.

- Reference is now made to the drawings which form a part hereof, and in which Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view of an exemplary jail block taken along the line l-i of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 'is a vertical section of the same along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation of a cell gate in closed position as taken at line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of mechanism seen in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the gate shown in Fig. 3 but in open position.

Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged fragmentary perspectives of mechanism shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary front elevation of a gate which has been arranged to operate in transverse relation to the other gates.

Fig. 9 shows the door of Fig. 8 after moving to open position.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary detail of controlling mechanism of the door shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

Fig. 11 is a front elevation of the control box with the cover in open position.

Fig. 12 is a section along line l2-i2 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a detail of the operating lever.

Fig. 14 is a detail of a device for locking the selective levers.

Fig. 15 is a front elevation with parts broken away to show the construction of an auxiliary locking means with the gate partly open.

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary elevation similar to that of Fig. 15, but with the gate in closed position, and

Fig. 17' is a fragmentary perspective of parts shown in Figs. 15 and 16.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the cell block may consist of a front partition or wall A, side walls B and C and a rear wall (not shown) which, extending across the rear of the unit completes a rectangular enclosure.

In side wall B we have provided an entrance gate or door ii, hinged as at 8a to permit passage to or from the cell block. The interior of the cell block has other partitions or walls i, 8, 9 and ill, which with the sliding gates la, 2a, 3a, and 4a divide the unit into a plurality of enclosures which we have indicated at l, 2, 3, and 5. For the purpose of this specification we shall term the enclosures i 2 and 3 as cells. The enclosure 4 may be termed a corridor, and that of 5 a vestibule.

The partitions and gates above mentioned may be of the usual type steel. grating such as is common to prison construction, or they may consist of armor plate or other material if desired.

A ceiling E5 of grating or plate material is provided to cover the entire cell block. The floor may be of reinforced concrete or other suitable material to form an escapeproof structure.

For operating the various gates we have provided a central control box F which is mounted outside the cell block on wall B. This control box contains apparatus by which the gates may be opened or closed without the attendant entering the cell block where he may be subjected to physical violence.

It will be understood that we are not to be limited to the precise lay-out or arrangement of the cells and corridors as shown in the drawings for it will be apparent after reading the accompanying description that with slight mechanical modifications the arrangement of the cells and the location of the control box may be varied in many ways.

Referring to Figs. 11 and 12 the control box F has a series of tabulated levers i6, I6 and IS pivoted at lfia and mechancially connected with a series of pull rods H, it and W. These particuar levers control mechanism of the gates of cells i, 2 and 3, respectively, as will later be described. A lever l8 pivoted at 18a and connected with pull rod is controls mechanism of the corridor gate 4a. Lever 25 is pivoted at 2541 and through action of the link 2! operates a latch or tongue 22 which is the locking means for the vestibule gate 5. A lever 23 pivoted at 23a has another pivoted connection 231) to which a plate 24 is connected. Plate 24 is slidably mounted on the sloping dividing wall 24b in the box F, and has openings 24a which surround the aforementioned levers. Depression of the lever 23 causes the upper edges of the openings E ia, to contact and move levers i5, i8 and 25 thereby operating or releasing the desired mechanism of all the gates in one operation. It is thus seen that control of the gates may be performed selec tively or collectively as desired. The control box F may be provided with a hinged cover i I having locking means ila. As seen in Fig. 14 angle pieces I lb may be mounted on the cover so as to prevent any movement of the various levers when the cover is closed.

Motive power for opening the gates is provided by manual operation of the hand lever 25 as will be described later. The gate 6 is an exception to this, however. As shown it is of the hinged type and is provided with a handle for operation in the usual manner.

We wish to be understood that the number of gates shown in the drawings is not a limitation of our present invention, nor is the manual operation thereof an essential requirement, for in some cases as where a large number of gates are to be operated it may be desirable to provide electrical or other motive means.

The hand lever 25 is pivoted at 25a in a pair of arms 25 and 25a which in turn are pivoted at 2th and have upwardly extending portions 26c in which a link 2? is pivoted on the pin Zia. Hand lever 25 has a toothed portion 25b which meshes with a gear segment 28 rigidly secured in the box F.

As seen in Fig. 12 the hand lever 25 is shown in its extreme upward position. Movement of this lever to its downward position as seen in Fig. 13 will cause counter-clockwise movement of the arms 25 and 25a thus pulling link 2? to the left. Conversely the movement of lever 25 from its lower to upper position will cause link 21 to be carried to the right.

Referring to Fig. 2 the link 2! has mounted at its outer end a traveling pinion 29 meshing with a short rack 29a, which rack is fixed to the structural wall portion 30 extending from the gates and grill work to the ceiling. Also meshing with the pinion 25 is a longer rack 3| which as better seen in Fig. 3 is secured to a long channel member 32. The rack 31 may have a second toothed portion am. from which motive power for operat ing the corridor gate 4a may be derived. The member 32 is mounted for reciprocal movement on a series of flanged rollers 33 and serves as a draw-bar which is common to the gates of cells I, 2 and 3. Thus it is apparent that movement of the hand lever 25 is transmitted to the draw-bar 32 and if any of the cell gates were coupled therewith they would be carried to open or closed position as desired. As will be presently described we have provided means by which the gates may be selectively coupled with the draw-bar. This coupling means is actuated by depressing the required tabulated lever l, H5 or IB.

Referring to Figs. 3 to 7 inclusive, each cell gate has secured at its top a rectangular plate 35 having studs 36 upon which flanged rollers 31 are mounted. The rollers 31 are adapted to ride on a track member 38 which is secured to the structural wall portion 30. Rigidly mounted on the plate 35 is a member 40, having a nose portion 40a, a shoulder 4th and a forward projecting angular portion 45o, as best seen in Fig. '7. Carried on the member 45 an arm or dog 4| is pivoted at Ma and has a rearward extending lug 41b.

Mounted on the draw-bar above each gate is a pair of latches 43 and 44. These latches are pivotaliy mounted on studs 43a and 44a, respectively, and are limited in their movement thereon by pins 531) and 441) which are fixed in the draw-bar and extend through the slots 43c and 440. The latches have inclined surfaces 43d and 44d. Faces 43c and Me of the latches are adapted to engage the portion Mb of the dog 4| when said dog is turned upwardly about its pivoted mounting Ma. Thus the dog 4| and latches 43 and 44 constitute a coupling means by which the movement of the draw-bar is transmitted to the gates. The latch 43 serves to carry the gate to the right or open position, as seen in Fig. 5. Latch 44 operates to return the gate to its closed position.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6 we have secured to the structural wall portion 30, a bracket 50 having a triangular shaped portion 5% supported in inter-spaced relation to the wall 30 by webs 55a. Pivoted at 5! is a member 52 having a lever arm 52a to which is attached the pull rod l'l previously mentioned. Member 52 also has an extending cam portion 52b with inclined faces 52c and 52d. A slot 52s in member 52 has slidably mounted therein a stud 53. This stud extends through a slot 550 in the bracket 50 and is rigidly secured at its inner end to a member 54 which member has a rectangular opening 54a adapted to receive the nose 40a of member 40. For the purpose of this specification the member 54 may be termed a keeper. When the gate is carried toward its closed position as seen in Fig. 3, the nose 40a. contacts the upper edge of opening 54a lifting the member 54 upward. During this action stud 53 is free-to rise in slots 52c and 55p. When the gate reaches its closed position member 54 drops behind the shoulder 40b as seen in Fig. 4, thus locking the gate in closed position. Member 54 has a lug 54b to which is fixed alift rod 55. This lift rod'serves to operate an auxiliary locking device for the gates.

The auxiliary locking device, just referred to; is shown in Figs. 15, 16 and 17. Here the lift rod 55 extends downward inside the metal doorjamb or casing 30a and is connected at 55a to a rectangular bar 56 slidably mounted on studs 56a and having at its lower end a projecting hardened steel tongue or keeper 51. Secured to the casing 30a the bracket 58 has hinged at 58a, a flapper 581) having a hardened steel face plate 59. When the gate is in open position the plate 59 is held as shown in Fig. 15 by the tongue 51, thus serving to close the aperture 30b and prevent malicious tampering with the mechanism. The gate has a nose 6|] with shoulder 60a. When the gate is moved to closed position the member 54 is lifted upward as previously described and carries with it lift rod 55, bar 56 and tongue 51. This releases the plate 59 and allows nose 60 to enter the aperture moving plate 59 backward about pivot 58a. As member 54 drops behind shoulder 4% the tongue 51 will drop behind shoulder 60a of nose 60. The various parts will then be in position as best seen in Figs. 4 and 16.

Referring again to Figs. 5, 6 and 7 an angle bar 65 is secured to the wall 30 and has studs 65a and 65b upon which are fulcrumed jumpers or lever members 66 and 61. Member 6! has fixed therein a stud 61a which extends through a slot 66a in lever 66. The levers 66 and 51 have at their outer ends bearing portions 661) and 61b respectively. Lever 6B is pivotally connected at 660 to the keeper member 54. Lifting member 54 causes the ends of levers 66 and 61 to rise upward and lift thedog 4| into an engageable position between latches 43 and 44. While traveling between the jumpers the dog is held in engagement with the latches by the upper web 650 of the angle bar, upon which the dog is adapted to slide during movement of the gate.

We have shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 a modified type of gate which is arranged for movement in transverse relation to that of the gates heretofore described. The essential feature of this arrangement is the method of operating a required secondary draw-bar 15. Here the drawbar 15 is slidably mounted upon member 16 and is arranged to reciprocate thereon. Secured to this draw-bar a rack 11 meshes with gear 18 which gear is in turn mechanically connected with draw-bar 32 by means of the miter gears 19, shaft 80, gear BI and rack 3|a. Movement of draw-bar 32 is therefore transmitted to the secondary draw-bar 15, but in transverse relation.

For releasing the keepers and lifting dog 4|- the member 52 is connected to a bell crank pivoted at 85a on bracket 50, said bell crank 85 being connected by pull rod |9 to the tabulated lever l8 within control box F. Latch members 82 and 83 carried on the draw-bar 15 are adapted to engage dog 4| and carry the gate to open or closed position as previously described in conjunction with gates Ia, 2a and 3a.

The operation of the gates is as follows:

Assuming that the gates are in closed position and it is desired to open gate la, the operator opens control box F and depresses the tabulated lever l6. As seen in Figs. 3 and 4, this actuates the pull rod l1 and causes clockwise rotation of member 52 until said member strikes the projection 400 which is integrally mounted with the gate. Rotation of member 52 acting through stud 53 lifts the keeper 54 out of locking engagement with shoulder 40b. The auxiliary keeper 5! being mechanically connected with keeper 54 by lift rod 55 is also lifted from engagement with restricted by the said keepers.

shoulder 60a so that movement of the gate is not The jumper member 66 being pivotally connected to keeper 54 lifts dog 4| into position between latches 43 and 44. As seen in Fig. 3 the draw-bar 32 is in its extreme left hand position and if moved to the right by operation of hand lever 25 as before described the latch 43 will engage dog 4| thus pushing the gate toward its open position. As the gate is moved to the right the projection 400 contacts inclined surface 520 of member 52 causing the said member 52 together with the keepers, jumpers and tabulated lever l6 to return to their normal positions. While the gate is traveling between its open and closed positions the dog is prevented fromfalling out of engagement with the latches by its rearward projection 4|b which slides upon the web 650 of angle bar 65. As the gate approaches its open position as seen in Figs. 5 and '7 the dog (passing the end of angle bar 65) drops from engagement with the latches and rests on the bearing portion 61b of jumper member 61. The gate is thus moved to open position and is uncoupled from the drawbar so that the operator may open and close any of the other gates as desired, while the said first gate remains open. Also the gate is locked in open position as any attempt to close it by means other than that we have provided will be frustrated by dog 4| striking the end 6511 of the angle bar;

To move the gate to closed position the operator must again depress tabulated lever |6' which as before described will actuate jumpers 61 and lift the dog into engagement with the latches. On moving the draw-bar to the left, latch 44 will engage the dog and carry the gate to the left. As the gate nears its closed position the projection 490 carried therewith, contacts inclined surface 52d of member 52 thus again returning the entire mechanism to position as seen in Fig. 3.

It is not essential that the draw-bar and latches be positioned as shown in the drawings when the dog is lifted. Supposing the gate tobe in open position as seen in Fig. 5 and the draw-bar to be in its extreme left hand position of Fig. 3. If the dog 4| is now lifted by the mechanism described, it will not rise between the latches 43 and 44 as seen in the drawings. However due to the pivoted arrangement of the latches and their inclined surfaces 43d and 44d they are adapted to ride over the dog and fall into engagement therewith.

Referring to Fig. 2 it will be apparent that the appurtenances of gate la as described .are substantially duplicated in conjunction with gates 2a and 3a, and are therefore designated by similar indicia on the drawings. The operation of these gates would therefore be accomplished as just described for gate |a, except that the operator must depress the appropriate tabulated lever I6" or 6" as required. Similarly the transverse gate may be actuated by depressing the tabulated lever l8.

From the construction of our device it will appear that as the operating lever 25 is raised to the position shown in Fig. 12, the draw-bar is pushed toward the right as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, and that when the operating lever 25 is lowered to the position of Figure 13, the draw-bar is pulled toward the left. Thus an upward movement of the handle 25 serves to open any cell door which has been coupled to the draw-bar by means of the tabulated levers, and a downward movement closes any open door which is coupled to the draw-bar. If, for example, the doors la and 3 are open and the door 20 isclosed, and the lever 20 is depressed, the effect of an upward movement of the lever 25 will be to open the door 2a, the doors la and 3a remaining open. Now if the lever 20 is again depressed, all the doors will be closed upon downward movement of the lever 25. If the operating handle 25 is down, and some of the cell doors are open and others locked, and it is desired to close all open doors without opening any of the closed ones, the handle 25 is raised to its uppermost position without depressing any of the tabulated levers, and then the lever 25 is depressed. Now upon downward movement of the lever-25, all the open doors will be closed since they have all been coupled to the draw-bar by means of the lever 20.

It will thus be seen that we have provided a jail block in which, regardless of the instant position of any of the gates, an attendant may at will move any of the gates singly to alter its position, or may leave all closed gates closed and shut all the open ones, or leave all open gates open, and open all the locked gates, without enter-- ing the'block. 7

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y

1. In a cell block comprising a plurality of cells and doors therefor all operating in the same plane, and other doors operating in planes transverse to said first mentioned plane, a draw bar positioned for reciprocating movement in a plane parallel to said first mentioned plane adjacent said doors, other draw bars positioned for re-- ciprocating movement in planes parallel to said other planes, connections between said first mentioned draw bar and said other draw bars whereby the reciprocating movement of said first mentioned draw bar is communicated to said other draw bars, a control box positioned at a point removed from said doors and provided with means for reciprocating said first mentioned draw bar, lugs on' said doors, dogs on said draw bars positioned to be engageable by said lugs, and means in said control box for selectively causing said lugs for any number of said doors to enter into engagement with said dogs, whereby said doors may be selectively operated from said control box.

2. A cell door operating mechanism comprising in combination with a cell door, a draw bar provided with dogs, a projecting shoulder on said door, .a keeper adapted to rest behind said shoulder to lock said door in closed position, a lug on said door, and means remote from said door to lift said keeper fro-m engagement with said shoulder to unlock said door, and to raise said lug to a position where it may be engaged by said dogs for opening said door upon operation of said draw bar.

3. In a cell having a door and a jamb against which said door abuts when in closed position, a nose on said door, an opening in said jamb into which said nose is adapted to enter when said door is closed, a keeper within said jamb adapted to engage a shoulder on said nose to lock said door, means remote from said door for releasing the said keeper from said shoulder for unlocking the door, and means in connection with said keeper toseal said opening when said keeper is released from said shoulder and said nose is withdrawn from said opening.

4. In a cell having a door and a jamb against which said door abuts when in closed position, a draw bar provided with dogs, a projecting shoulder on said door, a keeper adapted to rest behind said shoulder to lock said door in closed position, a nose on said door and an opening in said jamb into which said nose is adapted to enter when said door is in closed position, an auxiliary keeper within said jamb adapted to engage a shoulder on said nose to provide an auxiliary lock for said door, a lug on said door, and means remote from said door to lift said keeper and auxiliary keeper from engagement with their respective shoulders for unlocking said door, and to raise said lug to a position where it may be engaged by said dogs for opening said door upon operation of said draw bar.

DANIEL FRIES, SR. DANIEL G. FRIES, JR. 

